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By Liz Beggs, Jayplaywriter
It would be inaccurate to say Johnny's is a party every night, but Rick Renfro, Johnny's
owner, guarantees that while there might not be anything illegal going on, there is always something immoral. With bragging rights to a 50-year-running-tap, Johnny's Tavern is a bar with an extensive history that complements its current tradition.
his rugby buddies.
In 1953, the hard-drinking John White took over the building at 2nd and Locust and created a bar from what used to be his father's tractor supply store. Renfro remembers the 6-foot-3 White as a nice guy when he was sober, but a mean drunk that would at times throw out patrons from the bar. As rough as that may sound, the next day White would always call and apologize for his drunken behavior. White maintained ownership until '78 when Renfro took over to create a drinking haven for
Johnny's Tavern, where every day is a holiday and every meal a feast
He danced smothered in baby oil, did a little booty shake, a little flex, wearing nothing more than a purple Crown Royal bag. The women screamed, hollered, whistled and threw their hands up to place bids for the man of the moment. I stood back, watching the bar I frequent turn into something little more than a male revue. There was a rugged, chap-wearing, behind-showing cowboy, a truck-driving redneck with his white sleeveless shirt and massive arms and a fireman who set the stage ablaze with his groove. That night last spring, the rugby team took over Johnny's Tavern, 410 N. 2nd St., for its team fundraiser; a male auction.
In fact, rugby was the inspiration behind the name for the new addition to the bar. Benrof says he wanted
hemo says he worked to re-name Johnny's to the "Up and Under," a rugby term that means kicking the ball up and running underneath it. Customers couldn't get the hang of the new name and kept referring to the bar as Johnny's. So when the bar above Johnny's opened up, he coined that the Up and Under and left Johnny's Tavern as is.
Soon after, Renfro broke ground to add another section to the building. While the
IT IS THE IRREGULARITIES OF JOHNNY'S AND THE DIVERSITY IN THE CLIENTELE THAT KEEP JOHNNY'S A TOWN FAVORITE.
crew was digging, it came across an old tombstone belonging to an unknown Betty Gailes that was washed up from a flood in the early 1900s. Calling it fate, the crew named the new bar Betty's and even showcased the tombstone.
In the '90s, Johnny's, the Up and Under and Betty's used to all managed as separate businesses, but currently they are one establishment. Both the Up an Under, on the second floor, and Betty's on the ground floor, can be opened up and used for events such as graduation parties because the sections provide access to the main bar and privacy for a
party.
The clientele at Johnny's has not changed much over the years, Renfro
Illustration by Austin Gilmore
e at Johnny's has not over the years, Renfro says. Because of its location next to the highway and train tracks, the bar gets a lot of drifters. But it is also a college town favorite and has its hooks in previous generations. Renfro described the bar's crowd as an
eclectic mix of people ranging from bikers to bankers. On any particular night, you could see an elderly man sitting next to a guy who just turned 21. And on Wednesday nights, Steve Carrington says that Johnny's turns into a bar that is "triple platinum, where bling is king." The diverse crowd is the best part of Johnny's, and Renfro says that out of all his patrons, it is grade school teachers on the last day of school who are the wildest bunch.
And grade school teachers aren't the only people to cause a little ruckus. Like other bars in town, Johnny's has had its share of fights. Bartenders Blair Barr and Will Lenz remember times when pool cues have been used as weapons, heads have been slammed into the pinball machine and every once in a while, poor drunk guys are thrown out hollering from the bar. But these types of fisticuffs are not a regular occurrence at Johnny's any more than the occasional Halloween spotting of a Richard Simmons look-alike or grown men wearing nothing but Speedos and sports bras, trying to pass as members of the Women's U.S. Beach Volleyball team. The Ultimate Frisbee team doesn't regularly throw costume parties where members strip the tournament MVP naked, shove a Frisbee in his butt crack and carry him around the bar cheering. But it is the irregularities of Johnny's and the diversity of the clientele that keep Johnny's a town favorite.